{"id":574944,"date":"2026-02-01T10:50:21","date_gmt":"2026-02-01T10:50:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/574944\/"},"modified":"2026-02-01T10:50:21","modified_gmt":"2026-02-01T10:50:21","slug":"derek-fisher-says-ja-morant-could-benefit-from-change-of-scenery-if-traded","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/574944\/","title":{"rendered":"Derek Fisher Says Ja Morant Could Benefit From Change Of Scenery If Traded"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>                          Derek Fisher<br \/>\n                          Ja Morant Could Benefit If Traded<br \/>\n                          &#8230; &#8216;Sometimes change is needed!!!&#8217;<\/p>\n<p>\n                                                                        Published<br \/>\n                              February 1, 2026<br \/>\n                            12:10 AM PST\n                                                                            <\/p>\n<p>            Play video content<\/p>\n<p>                    <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"eager\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/3eae7b0657194489bb28062a38febd12_md.jpg\" alt=\"derek-fisher-ja-morant-kal-01-13-2026\" width=\"728\" height=\"410\" class=\"img-fluid\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                    TMZSports.com<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/people\/derek-fisher\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Derek Fisher<\/a> isn\u2019t predicting a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/people\/ja-morant\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ja Morant<\/a> trade before next week\u2019s deadline &#8230; but if it happens, he says buckle up.<\/p>\n<p>TMZ Sports caught up with the five-time NBA champion at LAX recently and asked him about the possibility of the Memphis Grizzlies trading their dynamic star.<\/p>\n<p>                  <a class=\"js-click-image js-track-link image-lightbox-preview\" data-node-ref=\"tmz:image-asset:image_jpg_20260130_80c1db99964c42f1a29cb0c3344997d7\" data-container-ref=\"tmz:article:d87efdaf-9caa-41d7-9ddb-b11addecf145\" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;permalink&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;image&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<p>                          <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/80c1db99964c42f1a29cb0c3344997d7_md.jpg\" alt=\"Ja Morant sub getty\" width=\"728\" height=\"546\" class=\"img-fluid image-block__img-fluid img-aspect-auto\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                  <\/a><\/p>\n<p>Fisher weighed in on the rumors &#8230; admitting there\u2019s no obvious landing spot if Morant is moved &#8212; but stressed that being traded is something even the game\u2019s greats have had to endure.<\/p>\n<p><a id=\"continued\" class=\"continued-anchor\"\/><\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo many great players in the history of our game have been traded before,\u201d Fisher said, calling the experience \u201ctraumatic\u201d and adding flat-out that it\u2019s not easy.<\/p>\n<p>Yet Fisher also suggested a fresh start isn\u2019t always a bad thing. He pointed to recent shakeups across pro sports &#8212; including <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tmz.com\/people\/trae-young\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Trae Young<\/a>\u2019s trade and even NFL coaches getting axed &#8212; as proof that sometimes change is necessary.<\/p>\n<p>                  <a class=\"js-click-image js-track-link image-lightbox-preview\" data-node-ref=\"tmz:image-asset:image_jpg_20260130_3cf1d185c5034295afb5adc57fe3dde9\" data-container-ref=\"tmz:article:d87efdaf-9caa-41d7-9ddb-b11addecf145\" data-context=\"{&quot;section&quot;:&quot;permalink&quot;,&quot;name&quot;:&quot;image&quot;}\"><\/p>\n<p>                          <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/3cf1d185c5034295afb5adc57fe3dde9_md.jpg\" alt=\"Derek Fisher getty sub\" width=\"728\" height=\"546\" class=\"img-fluid image-block__img-fluid img-aspect-auto\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                  <\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cSometimes change is needed or required and it might not be a bad thing,\u201d Fisher said. \u201cSometimes you need a change of scenery and new challenges put forth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As for the off-court noise surrounding Morant, Fisher reminded everyone that front offices know way more than fans ever will.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cProfessional sports teams always do their homework and due diligence,\u201d Fisher said. \u201cWhere is he now? There\u2019s personal character and there\u2019s basketball character. In most organizations, you have to check both boxes to be a guy they want.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>            Play video content<\/p>\n<p>                    <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/2c63dc192304429096e3fced216cab10_md.jpg\" alt=\"derek-fisher-coaching-kal-01-13-2026\" width=\"728\" height=\"410\" class=\"img-fluid\"\/><\/p>\n<p>                    TMZSports.com<\/p>\n<p>We also asked Fisher about his current gig coaching high school boys basketball after being on the sidelines for the New York Knicks in the NBA and the LA Sparks in the WNBA.<\/p>\n<p>He&#8217;s coaching his stepsons on the team at Crespi High School &#8230; and Fisher calls it a blessing getting to make an impact.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m just trying to help them understand what goes into chasing your dreams and the choices you have to make,\u201d Fisher said. \u201cTo be a good high school player and have an opportunity to play in college one day, you have to be able to focus and keep the main thing the main thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So while the league debates trades and legacies, Fisher is mentoring the next generation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Derek Fisher Ja Morant Could Benefit If Traded &#8230; &#8216;Sometimes change is needed!!!&#8217; Published February 1, 2026 12:10&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":574945,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3795],"tags":[7,294,293,177,4070,6,67,66,83,2228],"class_list":{"0":"post-574944","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-memphis-grizzlies","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-grizzlies","10":"tag-memphis","11":"tag-memphis-grizzlies","12":"tag-memphisgrizzlies","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-sports-news","17":"tag-tmz-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/115994993569757176","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574944","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=574944"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/574944\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/574945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=574944"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=574944"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=574944"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}